Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

The Ad Campaign: ‘Dos Caras’

This Spanish-language television advertisement for Senator Barack Obama is aimed at Latino voters in battleground and other states. Called “Two Faces,” it is 30 seconds long.

PRODUCER: Obama media team

THE SCRIPT: Mr. Obama speaks first, in correct but accented Spanish, saying he approves the message. Then an indignant male voice begins to talk: “They want us to forget the insults we’ve had to endure. Intolerance. They’ve made us feel marginalized in this country that we love so much. John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One tells lies to get our votes. The other, even worse, follows the failed policies of George Bush, putting the interests of powerful groups ahead of working families. John McCain: more of the same Republican deceit.”

THE SCREEN: After Mr. Obama’s introduction, the screen splits in two. At the top is a mother and her young child, while at the bottom is a picture of Rush Limbaugh and the phrase “stupid, unskilled Mexicans.” The image of a middle-aged woman in front of a store follows, along with another phrase attributed to Mr. Limbaugh: “Shut your mouth or get out!” At the first mention of “two faces,” the images of Senator McCain and President Bush appear. A newspaper headline reads “they made immigration reform fail,” attributing the phrase to a McCain campaign ad. As an image of an oil rig on the left gives way to a gasoline pump and then the accusation of deceit, Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush are shown together again on the right.

ACCURACY: This ad is misleading. Mr. McCain’s history on the issue of immigration, though complicated, is misrepresented here, as is his relationship with the nativist wing of his party and Mr. Limbaugh. With Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Mr. McCain sponsored comprehensive reform legislation in 2006. He later backed away from his own bill for reasons still being debated, and though he now says the borders must be secured first, he has not repudiated his support for the principle. (In fact, he has tried in his own ads to shift the blame for the bill’s failure to Mr. Obama. On the campaign trail has also repeatedly praised the Hispanic contribution to American life, especially that of soldiers and small businessmen. Not one of the anti-Hispanic slights cited in the ad came from Mr. McCain’s mouth.

SCORECARD: A Spanish-language proverb says it best: “Tell me who you walk with, and I will tell you who you are.” This is an exercise in guilt by association, meant to taint Mr. McCain with Latino voters. But in the Republican presidential debates, he took pains to separate himself from the anti-immigrant posture of candidates like Tom Tancredo, and Mr. Limbaugh has often attacked Mr. McCain, sometimes in language as intemperate as that in this ad. So while Mr. McCain may need to explain why the Republican platform does not reflect his views on immigration, little in his own record justifies this particular attack, which strongly implies that he holds anti-Hispanic views.

Obama could have done a better job with this ad. I think that the use of Rush Limbaugh’s quotes is misleading. The script is a little vague in the beginning. I agree about McCain telling lies, but if the Obama camp is going to make that claim, they need to give more specific examples.

Regarding Palin/McCain following the same policies AND secretive practices (e.g., how they are handling Troopergate) as Dubya – absolutely.

Larry Rohter can keep his Republican spin. John McCain may have been more moderate at one time, but he his choice when he decided to get in bed with the neocons.

Despite Rohter’s clear ignorance on the subject, just like on the issues of torture, drilling, and Bush’s tax cuts for the richest 2%, John McCain’s past positions are irrelevant now because his current rhetoric on immigration is the neocon party line verbatim.

You don’t have to be Latino to adhere to this proverb. John McCain, no matter what he says, is in lock step with his supporters and his party.

“John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One tells lies to get our votes. The other, even worse, follows the failed policies of George Bush, putting the interests of powerful groups ahead of working families. John McCain: more of the same Republican deceit.”

This all too sums up John McCain not only in illegal immigration, but just about everything else; including his economic policy.

From the Obama campaign this is probably the most hard hitting ad yet. While McCain’s record on immigration is unclear, the ad may go futher than it should have in this area. But, for his economic policy, the choice of Sarah Palin, etc. it is spot on.

Got to love dirty politics. Rather than looking at polls, you can just look at the campaign commercials to see how close the race really is… Iove the handshake between bush and mccain at the end of the commercial – Bush’s face is hilarious.

McCain deserves credit for supporting a reasonable immigration bill. But he also deserves the criticism for giving in to the right wing of his party during the primaries and repudiating his earlier support for the bill. He pandered to the “Minuteman” elements in the Republican party in order to win the primary. If he wins the election, he will owe the right alot more and you can bet it will come in the form of an even higher and longer fence along the border, and harm to the rights of the hard-working immigrant families in this country.

If McCain caved into the Right on Palin, what else will he cave on?
From what I have seen of McCain’s campaign during the last few weeks, he seems to state a new principle, a new position after every headline he reads.
John McCain back and forth on issue after issue.

McCain has ruined his legacy with quick changes of strategy and policy position. And then Palin.

“He later backed away from his own bill for reasons still being debated, and though he now says the borders must be secured first, he has not repudiated his support for the principle.”

I’m sorry, but backing away from his bill and taking an enforcement first approach is the definition of reputiating his support for the his former principles. Rhetoric praising latins, etc. notwithstanding, McCain’s flip-flop on immigration fits into a larger pattern of fitting into the neocon party line – on supply side economics, on economic deregulation (oh wait, i forgot, he’s for regulation now), on drilling, etc., etc.

Please take off the rose colored glasses. this ad is not misleading – McCain no longer supports comprehensive immigration reform. His choice of Palin as VP is a clear pander to the Limbaugh arm of the party. The maverick is dead.

The only way he could claim to be called Maverick is in his resemblence to the Tom Cruise character in Top Gun – an arrogant flyboy with womanizing ways who showed complete disregard for the regulations of naval aviation.

It’s too bad this ad is full of distortions. Namely Rush’s quote. Everyone knows that Rush was merely explaining Mexican laws on immigration which are extremely more discriminating than the US. The ad does not recognize this. Also, everyone knows that McCain and Bush are/were for some level of amnesty. Rush is totally against amnesty for illegals. Just thought I would share the truth about this ad.

Look, I don’t mind if you do the whole accuracy thing, but do it with every single ad that you post. This is the first one from either candidate that you’ve used this format with, and I’m finding it irritating that you decide to do your scorecard beginning with Obama’s after McCain’s have been so inaccurate heretofore.

Isn’t the scorcard supposed to be ad? If so, Obama didn’t score: such grossly misleading ads equal defamation of character and the Obama campaign should be slammed by the NYT for it. If not, Rohter’s commentary appears to be that of an Obamaton, and totally in line with the NYT’s continuous display of a prObama propaganda and what reader have come to expect.

So John McCain was for immigration reform but now, in order to please the nativist wing of his party, he has come out against it. John McCain is now running for president on a platform written by the same nativist wing of his party.

But we should all credit John McCain with his past support of immigration reform and understand that he is just saying all this stuff to energize his base and when he gets to be president he will stop saying it and go back to the positions that he used to hold.

Vote for McCain he’s really lying to those guys over there and not to you!

President Obama drew criticism on Thursday when he said, “we don’t have a strategy yet,” for military action against ISIS in Syria. Lawmakers will weigh in on Mr. Obama’s comments on the Sunday shows.Read more…